1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a steering device.
2. Description of Related Art
For example, in a steering column for an automobile descried in Published Japanese Translation of PCT application No. 2011-516323 (JP 2011-516323 A), a steering shaft to which a steering wheel is mounted is rotatably supported by an adjustment unit supported by a support unit. When the adjustment unit is moved in an axial direction of the steering shaft, it is possible to adjust the position of the steering wheel in the axial direction.
The adjustment unit is disposed between a pair of side plates in the support unit. Each side plate is provided with a hole, and a clamping bolt is inserted into the hole. A lock member is attached to the clamping bolt, and an operation lever is coupled to the clamping bolt. To the adjustment unit, an opposite lock member having a large number of notches is coupled via a breakaway plate.
When the operation lever is operated and the clamping bolt is thereby rotated, a protrusion of the lock member is inserted into any of the notches of the opposite lock member, and the position of the steering wheel in the axial direction is locked. In addition, at the time of a vehicle collision, the breakaway plate is deformed, and energy at the time of the vehicle collision is thereby absorbed.
In the steering column described in JP-A-2011-516323, the breakaway plate needs to be additionally provided in order to absorb the energy at the time of the vehicle collision, and hence an increase in the number of components is inevitable. Further, in order to obtain desired characteristics of energy absorption at the time of the vehicle collision, fine adjustment is required such that the breakaway plate is properly deformed.